Face up, Face down
by ImmortalHeartofFlame
Summary: Melanie is a strong, confident young duelist with a dream of meeting her idol, Maximillion Pegasus and challenging him to a duel. But sometimes, dreams can turn into nightmares...


_Hello! I wrote this fanfiction a while ago based off a song I heard called Face up Face down, which is actually Pegasus singing about dueling people. I just found it and figured I'd post it. So here you are._

* * *

Face up, Face down

I collapsed in front of the huge wooden doors, breathing hard. I'd finally made it to Maximillion Pegasus' castle. It was he who had invited me and other duelists to participate in a competition on his island. My name is Melanie, by-the-way. The game was all about dueling against other duelists scattered around the island while trying to get to Pegasus' castle. I managed to sneak past all of them, and I still kept my star chips. They were like life points. You would lose one every time you lost a duel to someone, unless that person was an eliminator. If you lost to them, you would lose all your star chips and have to drop out of the competition. Luckily, none of the eliminators had caught me either. So here I was.

Getting slowly to my feet, I reached for one of the black, iron knockers, and knocked twice. After a few minutes passed, an older man with gray hair and a mustache opened the door. He wore a black suit that made him look like someone in the secret service. This must have been one of Pegasus' employees. "Hello Miss. Please come inside." he said, standing aside so I could pass. I walked in, nodding thanks. The inside was large and ornate, just like you would expect a castle to be. I was surprised that Pegasus wasn't there waiting for me, unless he was already at the arena where we were to duel. "You're much earlier than Mr. Pegasus thought you would be. He's in his dining room taking lunch now. Would you like to see him?"

"He's expecting me?" I asked.

"Well, of course, you and other duelists. Shall I take you to him?"

"Absolutely." I said, smiling. This was the moment I'd been waiting for. Getting to meet the guy who created the duel monsters game _and_ to face him in a duel was what I'd always dreamed of, ever since I discovered the game in middle school. Too bad I didn't know that my dream would soon turn into a nightmare.

The man lead me down a long stretch of hallway, decorated with paintings and fancy-looking statues. It was amazing. After a few minutes, we stopped in front of a thick wooden door. This must have led to the dining room. I waited eagerly for him to open it, but he hesitated, looking at me with sad eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this Miss? It's not too late to turn back and go home."

I looked at him in shock. "Why would I do that? I've been waiting to meet this man for a long time, and I've already made it this far. Can you please just open the door?"

He continued to stare at me with pained eyes. "How old are you, young lady?"

"Um, seventeen." I said uncertainly. He was starting to freak me out a bit.

He nodded, looking down. "Such a young age. Same as my granddaughter." he said softly. Then he looked up at me. "Good luck Miss. I hope you can make it through this without too much pain." Before I could ask what he meant by that, he grabbed the handle, and pulled open the door. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside, forgetting the worry the guy had planted in my brain.

The room was huge, like every other room I assumed was in this place. A dining table sat in the middle, stretching from one end of the room to the other. And there, at the very end of this table, was Maximillion Pegasus himself. He looked up curiously as we entered. He was a thin man with shoulder-length silver hair, even though he was quite young, and one brown eye. His other eye was completely covered by a curtain of his silver hair. It was said that he'd replaced the missing left eye with the powerful, golden Millenium Eye that supposedly helped him read people's minds. I didn't put too much stock in that rumor though. He could have been wearing an eye patch for all I knew.

"Mr. Pegasus, sorry to interrupt your lunch, but one of the first contestants has arrived." Pegasus smiled. I was struck by how sinister it looked. It was my first clue that things weren't quite right here, but I ignored it as he got up and walked over to where I stood. He stopped right in front of me. I had to remember to breathe. This was my idol.

"Why, hello." he said in an attractive, yet mysterious-sounding voice, holding out his hand in greeting. I took it and we shook once. "Maximillion Pegasus. It's wonderful to meet you Melanie."

I stared at him. "You-You know who I am already?"

He smiled at my shock. "Of course. I keep track of who comes to my island. However, you are quite early. I must admit, I didn't think you would make it this far."

"You and me both." I laughed.

He gestured to the table. "Care for something to eat before we begin? You must be hungry."

I looked at the table uncertainly. I really couldn't wait to duel, but he was right about the hunger. My stomach growled as if responding to my thoughts. He looked at me with amusement in his brown eye. I noticed that he kept the other eye carefully concealed by his hair. It must have been embarrassing. Maybe he didn't even have an eye patch. "There's no point in rushing things, dear Melanie." he said softly. "There'll be plenty of time to duel. In the meantime, why don't you join me for lunch? I know you're not old enough to drink, but one glass of wine wouldn't hurt. It could be just between you and me." He steered me toward the table with one hand on my back. Reluctantly, I sat down and accepted the food and wine offered to me. I'd tasted alcohol before, but there was something sweeter about the wine than regular alcohol. I downed the whole glass, to Pegasus' amusement. We sat and talked for what seemed like hours. I started relaxing a little more as we talked. Pegasus didn't seem like such a bad guy as I'd first thought. He asked me a lot of questions about my home life, my family, and my childhood. He even asked if I liked cartoons, which was what his deck was mostly made of. Sometimes though, just by looking at his expression, I could see that he knew more about me than he was letting on. Finally, after an hour of talking, he excused himself from the table, saying as he did so that he had to go prepare things for our duel. I'd been having such a good time talking to him that I'd completely forgotten about that duel I came for. Now I was on my guard again, a determined expression on my face as I put a hand on the cards in my pocket. This was it.

Pegasus left, leaving me alone in the big room. I pulled out my cards and looked through them. They should've been good enough to beat him, or at least come close enough. Most of my monsters were fairy type with magic cards that increased both attack and defense. I was very confident. Just as I thought this, the man with mustache came in. "Mr. Pegasus is ready for your challenge now." he informed me.

"Great!" I said, jumping up eagerly from my chair. It was about time. I followed the man down the hall to a door that I assumed lead to the arena. Just as I was about to enter, he stopped me.

"I know you probably won't listen to an old fool like me, but you must be cautious. Mr. Pegasus has a way of dueling that shakes most people to the core." I stared at him. He seemed truly worried about me. I wondered if I should just back out before it was too late. Then again, I'd come so far. I couldn't just turn around and leave.

"What's your name?" I asked the man.

"My name is Claudius." he replied, seeming surprised by my question.

"Well, Claudius, I appreciate your concern, but I can't back out now, no matter how bad things get. I won't stop until it's finished."

He sighed. "I thought you might say something like that. If I can't convince you to give up, then I wish you the best of luck in this duel. May you come out as confident as you are going in." He bowed, and I nodded in thanks. Then I took a deep breath once again, and opened the door.

I gasped as I took my first step into the arena. It was bigger than any room I'd seen so far. The arena itself took up most of the space. Pegasus stood at the other end of it, opposite from me. I took another deep breath, trying not to hyperventilate as I walked up to the arena and stood in my proper position opposite from Pegasus. "Welcome, honored guest Melanie. Are you ready for the duel of your life?"

I nodded eagerly. "Absolutely!" I pulled out my deck. "Let's do this!" He laughed darkly. It scared me a little, but I didn't let it show. I placed my deck in its proper place and our duel began. Pegasus started by summoning his signature card, toon world. It looked like a giant open book with a toon town sticking out of it. Then he summoned toon dark magician girl, ending his turn. I summoned one of my weaker fairy monsters in attack mode and placed two magic cards on the field, one face down, and one face up. The face up one increased my monster's attack greatly. I took advantage of that and took out toon dark magician girl.

Pegasus didn't seem at all fazed by that. He only smiled and said, "You seem quite motivated to win, but I wonder what a stronger motivation would do for you?"

I looked at him suspiciously. He didn't seem like the nice guy I'd talked to over lunch anymore. He seemed more cunning, devious. Maybe it was just because he was dueling? "What do you mean?" I asked.

He laughed, openly malicious. "I think we should change the stakes of this duel. It would make it much more interesting." He held up a card to show me. It wasn't a duel monsters card. I gasped in surprise as I recognized my own one true love, Ryan, on the card. There was a frozen look of despair on his face, terror in his pretty blue eyes.

"What is that supposed to be?" I asked with barely concealed revulsion. "How did you know about Ryan?"

Pegasus laughed again. I was really starting to hate that laugh. "I have your beloved boyfriend's soul trapped in this card. His body lies in the dungeon down below. If you win, not only will you be given the title of queen of games, but your poor boyfriend's soul will be released back to his body and you can both go home and live happily ever after. If you lose, however, your soul will be trapped along with his. Isn't it grand?"

My heart started to race. This couldn't be real. He must have been playing mind games with me, but how could he have known about Ryan? Not once had I mentioned him when we spoke. "Th-That's not possible! That would mean Ryan is...dead."

"Yes, temporarily. Of course, if you don't win, then it could be permanent. I'm sure you don't want that, so you'll have to fight even harder to keep him alive." He laughed again. It was official. I hated that laugh.

I gritted my teeth. "I don't believe you...you're lying!"

"Am I?" He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Ryan was there beside him, his physical body. He seemed to be alive, though his blue eyes were completely blank, his blond hair slightly dusty.

"Ryan?" I asked in disbelief. How could he have gotten here? He'd told me before I left that he was going to be on a camping trip with some of his guy friends. He didn't respond to the sound of my voice when I said his name. He just continued staring blankly ahead. "Ryan! What are you doing here?" He still didn't react. I looked at Pegasus, fear, panic, confusion, and desperation mixed together in my eyes. "What-What's wrong with him? Why did you bring him here?"

Pegasus smiled wickedly. "To raise the stakes, of course. It would be boring just leaving it as an ordinary duel. This makes things much more interesting, don't you agree?"

I felt myself trembling with rage, and maybe a hint of fear. "No. I don't. I want you to put his soul back inside his body!" I cried."Now."

He laughed evilly. "Oh, it's too late for that, my foolish girl. Now you have to play the game, otherwise his soul is mine forever." He gave me a knowing look. "Shall we continue?"

I swallowed nervously. This was more serious than I had anticipated. Apparently the rumors that circulated about Pegasus were true. He was a truly evil person. I had to win this, for Ryan's sake as well as my own. "Yes." I said. And so, we continued.

* * *

Just a half an hour later, I was at his mercy. Most of my monsters were destroyed and I only had three magic cards left in my hand, none of them very helpful for this situation. My deck was nearly used up and my life points were down the fifty. One more powerful attack from Pegasus, and I was done for. It was hopeless.

Pegasus grinned at me victoriously. I refused to look at him. I just wanted it over with, and as painless as possible. "Dear Melanie." Pegasus sighed. "You look so defeated, yet you were so confident when we started this duel. I can assure you, losing your soul doesn't feel so bad."

I looked up at him and growled, "How would you know?"

His smile was evil, which seemed to be the only smile he could give at this point. "Your lover told me so."

I gritted my teeth, bowing my head, and closing my eyes in defeat. "Just get it over with." _I hope someone else can beat him. Someone stronger than me. _That was my last thought before I heard him shout those fatal words.

"Destroy her monster, and her remaining life points!" I looked up just in time to see his toon monster fire a burst of energy at my pixie type monster and then at me. As it happened, he held up what looked like a blank duel monsters card. I felt myself fly backwards at the force of the attack and the next thing I knew, all was dark.

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_The end. Sad, I know, but that's it. Thanks for reading and please review!_


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